subbin

so I've been a sub this week. it's been good, but hard. even with going over plans with teachers, and knowing the kids, there are still a million ways that any class works that are routine to them and unknown to me. so... i was wrong a lot. but the kids like knowing better than me and were mostly helpful.

things kids said to me this week:

are you trying to be a teacher? (5th grader)

you should be a teacher. (5th grader)

you sound like a boy. (Kindergartener)

you are weird. (K)

you a funny teacher. I like you. (K)

why you using that weird voice, girl? (K)

another story:

2 Ks were making many bears with a playdoh mold. they had a long dicussion of how many bears they would make and how they would be famous doing it. the number of bears kept going up and up. One kid said "and then, we'll have 200 bears, and then we'll be dads." his buddy said, "yeah, and hen we'll make more bears and then we'll be old. we will still be famous, we'll just have to go to the old famous people home house and make bears there."

is that funny?

i don't know anymore.

off to nap.

study break mini-post

trying to take photo booth pictures with the cat is hard.











but fun.













phil in a "comic book." this effect is weird.

well, finally got my packet back. comments: academic work was good, needs more of my personal reflection on relating the reading to my work as a teacher. so i feel pretty good about that.

in the spirit of not doing everything at the last minute, i will go work on my writing now. (i've already started writing! last time i waited til threefour days before everything was due)

peace

packet 2 - sophomore effort - sophomoric?

well, i turned in my packet last monday. my advisor said she;d read it last weekend and get it back to me asap. asap is apparently not yet... my anxiety about getting it back has gone on an interesting journey from terror to mild worry peppered with terror to nagging nameless fear. i am comforted by emailing with my advising group who also tell of getting bogged down in finding too many things to read and not being able to narrow it down. they haven't got their packets back either, so at least i know its not just me.

in working on packet 2 i know what i should do to improve my working/studying process... buti am not doing it. that may be the real battle. i make plan after plan of when i will get done with what, but then i end up reading something else and looking up some source cited in that and digging around online for articles and oh yeah looking at overheard in newyork and etc etc and then oh wow! my plan has failed! how did that happen? sigh. i'll stop bitching now.

on the plus side: the family i nanny for is going to the bahamas next and it works out that they need me to sub at the school where i worked last year. i'm really excited to hang out with younger kids again! (my middle school math stuents are cool... but there is more "okay guys, let's not talk about the exorcist" and less hugging.

- i saw the brochures for the resort in the bahamas where they are going - ridiculo! it's called atlantis. the giant brochure/booklet says:" there was a time when we still believed in magic and wonder.... that time is now. Once upon Our time... "so lame. so i know we don't know where atlantis "was," but shouldn't it be more towards the mediterranean. and, i don't think there was a "mayan" temple there with a giant water slide on it. it was not their idea to go there, (blame the grandparetns) so i didn't have to pretend to think it didn't look insanely cheezy.

another plus:
108 sun salutes this saturday to celebrate the equinox! this will be my fourth season doing this and it is very meditative and cool. anyone want to join me?? any one actually read this? (side note: is there a word that means equinoxes and soltices? i don't know how to refer to all four as a group.)

okay. enough. off to make chili, go to board meeting, then study... maybe.

packet one is done: sociocultural implications of 3:20 AM

the face that will shape the youth of our future! wowzah.

i think one of my eyes is swelling shut. AND i just typed "eye's" at first.. nooooooooo.

anyone care about what my crazy grad school is like? (anyone read this but phil? )

here is the cover I just sent off along with 19 pages of minimally proofread, highly agonized over writing... hope i don't find any typos now.... awk.

Dear Gail,
What I’ve Done (and Haven’t Done):
For Packet #1, I have written an essay and education and curriculum history and one on multicultural education. These two essays providence evidence for most of the “essential understandings” of Competency I. Additionally, I plan to uses them as partial evidence in other competencies related to multiculturalism and curriculum.
I changed the resources from those listed in my study plan, Two of the books I plan on reading for other packets. I was unable to locate two of the books, but substituted others that were similar.
In the resources I ended up with, I also did a significant amount of reading that I didn’t write about as I’ve realized will be more relevant in other competencies, such as on child development, and culture and language. The only significant change to my study plan that I need to make is moving my essay on school reform to another packet. I didn’t anticipate how much my curriculum reading would get into reform movements. However, I still want to write about other aspects of school change that I’ve just read and as they relate to my personal philosophy of education. This will include processes of school restructuring and critical pedagogy in relation to current trends like corporate control, charter school, and NCLB and standardized testing accountability. I have decided though that it makes more sense to do this at the end of the semester, since I know the reading I do in the weeks to come (especially on learning theory and special education ) will alter how I view reform and what I value in a personal education philosophy.
I also haven’t been able to secure documentation AmeriCorps trainings, but I should have that for the next packet (after my old supervisor comes back from maternity leave). I’ve started working with kids as a nanny and math T.A. in the last couple weeks, but I haven’t begun journaling.
The last thing I am lacking is work on e-portfolio as I’d hoped to do. I also plan to work on this in the next packet.
Evaluation and Reflection
The first packet has been much more of a challenge for me than I expected – I knew I’d be adjusting to studying so independently, but I forgot about re-adjusting to studying at all since it’s been a few years since I was in school. I knew I’d be moving during the first three weeks of the semester, but I got only a very meager head start in the summer that didn’t really compensate for how busy I’ve been. So, I’m looking to the second packet with renewed and more realistic goals of time management. I am mostly satisfied with the work I’m turning in now, but I’m sure it could have improved after a couple days of revision not under the gun of a deadline. I definitely don’t want to repeat this repeat of dealing with computer troubles in the middle of the night after the deadline… I hope I learn this lesson and wrap up sooner in the future.
I found making my own decisions about what to read and write a more rewarding challenge than time management. I took much more comprehensive notes while reading than I did as an undergrad in an effort to have good material to draw from for writing the essays… and because so much I read was of genuine interest to me. The results were mixed though, I still spent lots of time re-reading in search of a particular quote. Taking the notes may have enriched my learning, but I also felt like I was overwhelmed by everything I wanted to write about, so what I did write seems too over-simplified. I’m trying to remember that this is my first packet and I already have a much greater understanding of “the process” than I used to.
I look forward to your comments!
Sincerely,
Cate

Fall into foto fun!

Well, gentle readers, serptember brings new jobs (nannying for precious young julia, and math class at southside!!) new apartment (charming duplex + phil + me + aesop = domestic bliss) and the real beginning of working on my studies! Here's the photographic evidence.
Yay, I'm actually getting writing done (first packet due on Monday!) This is grad school.... me and my computer and mountains of books (not pictured).
Is there water in my ear?? No, that's LEARNING.
New procrastination pastime - the photo booth special effects on my computer.
No double chins in the Freire book group!!